Fractured
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Robin wants to go back on his decision. For Regina, it's too late.


He picked her.

A part of Regina knows she shouldn't be surprised. Robin is a man of "honor" after all. He has a code and he lives by it.

Though she doubts there's anything in that code about what to do when your wife rises from the dead and you've moved on with the woman that killed her.

Another part of her knows that this is just what she deserves. After all she's done, she doesn't get a happy ending. Not a complete one, anyway. Her place in this world is the mayor of this town (she's taking the title back from Snow), mother of Henry and the reformed Evil Queen. But no matter what penance she pays, it will never truly be enough. She will never truly be happy.

Regina sits on the porch, nursing her cinnamon tea. Emma was by before and her empty cup still remains. The stick is there too. A reminder of how stupid hope can be.

She sees him coming up the walk. His combat boots and oversized camo jacket. Those blue eyes she used to get lost in when they'd have picnics by the fire place in her office. Those were memories she both loved and hated. They reminded her of better times, while also burning her of what could never be again.

"What do you want, Robin?" She asks, not looking up from her half-full cup. She hates that it hurts to look at him now.

"I went for a walk, and ended up here."

"That's not fair to me."

"I know."

"It's not fair to her either."

There's a pregnant pause that envelopes the two of them. She still doesn't look at him, but she can practically feel him drilling a hole into her.

"I think I made a mistake."

Regina lets out a bitter laugh that shakes her whole body and the cup she's holding. She has to set it down so it doesn't fall. "A mistake?" She rises to her feet. "Are you serious?"

Robin finishes walking up the steps. He stays a good distance away from her, his arms planked at his side. "I told you I'm a man of honor and how can I be that when every time I'm with her, I think of you?"

Regina bites her lip. She had waited for this moment after he made his choice. She had prayed for it, actually. But now…she's unsure of what to believe.

"Stop," Regina whispers.

"I love you, Regina Mills," Robin declares. "I shouldn't have walked away from you, and I'm sorry that I did."

Regina laughs again, this time genuine tears come to her eyes. "Love? You can't love me, Robin. I don't deserve to be loved."

He takes another step closer. "That's not true."

"Yes it is." She looks him dead in the eye. "I've done things, terrible things."

"So have I."

"You raided a village, stole someone's last diamond. But have you killed everyone in that village? Cursed a kingdom?" Her voice cracks. "Have you killed the wife of the man that you love?"

Robin lets out a deep breath. "Maybe I haven't. But I know that you have changed, Regina. You saved Marian's life. You saved Roland's too, back in the Enchanted Forest. You've done so much for so many others. You're not the woman you once were."

Regina wants to scream. A week ago, he was breaking her heart and now he's back again. It's as if nothing has changed for him and yet everything has for her. She's been forced to reexamine every part of her that went dark after she lost Daniel. What does she do to not hate Emma for bringing Marian back? How does she move on? How does she finally beat this beast once and for all?

And she's not doing it alone.

"Robin, I love you," she whispers. He smiles and those dimples make her want to jump into his arms and never let go. "But that's just not enough right now. When you walked away, you opened up a part of me that I thought I buried a long time ago. Now, that's not your fault. She's been there. She's been waiting for this occasion and now that she's out, I need to get some help, figure out how to tame this beast."

Robin takes another step towards her. "And we can do that together."

She shakes her head and it physically hurts. "Not right now. We need to figure this out. I…I need to work on myself. You need to talk to Marian, help her get acclimated to this world." He goes to speak and she holds up a hand. "Not as her husband, but as a friend. She's new and she's lost…and she needs you."

"You need me too."

"And you can be there for us both. I think that was your biggest mistake, thinking you had to decide. No matter what, she will always be in our lives. She is Roland's mother after all." He gives a sheepish nod. "I'm not saying a no forever…it's just right now…"

"I understand." Another step closer. "I'm still not going anywhere. Even if we're just friends right now…"

"I know." She takes hold of his hand. "Because you're Robin Hood. You have a code that you live by. When someone's in trouble…you don't walk away."

Regina pulls back and reaches down to the table beside her. She picks up the pregnancy test and places it in his still outstretched palm.

"Besides, like it or not, we're in each other's lives for the next 18 years."

Robin looks down from the test to back up at her, his eyes wide with amazement. "You…I mean…"

"I'm pregnant. And about the baby…it's yours."

**Anonymous on Tumblr prompted: "Outlaw Queen 34 ("I don't deserve to be loved.") and 35 ("About the baby… It's yours.")". A S4AU, where Regina didn't take an infertility potion.**


End file.
